Q.
I have a debt with the Hacienda and others and want to know if I can make myself bankrupt to avoid the accumulating interest on the amount owed ?
A.
Yes you can but there are two different set of circumstances, one you can enact if you have not left the matter for too long and are in a position to negotiate payment terms with your creditors but this may not be an option if you have left the debts outstanding for a great length of time. Normally if the debts are for more than say a year the creditors will have already started legal proceedings or other disciplinary procedures and will not enter in to negotiations.
The other possibility is to declare your self insolvent through the courts but unless your creditors start the matter you will have to have sufficient funds to pay the legal fees something which often people overlook and so have to wait until proceedings are initiated against them by a creditor and depending on cricumstances some legal assistance may be provided free.

Q.
I wrote a will and the notary said that I could not cut out 2 of my 4 children is this right ? What can I do about it now ?
A.
No, the laws of succession that will apply to you will depend on your nationality and I assume that you have UK nationality which means that you are bestowed the special right of not having to apply the Spanish laws of succession.
Under UK laws you can write your will however you wish and so provided the will is prepared carefully to make it clear what should be carried out you should not have any problems.
You can solve this issue by revoking the exisitng will by drawing up a new will.

Q.
I have a neighbour who built an extension against the rules of the community what can I do ?
A.
The rules governing extensions and changes to property are based on various elements. There is the local element which is the immediate community that if composed of a community of residents will have a set of rules to follow in respect of this matter.
Breach of these rules in itself does not carry an immediate effect but if it is a serious violation that also breaches municipal rules then the community would be able to present a denuncia and subsequent demand to either rectify the matter or proceed to court where a judge would normally give all possible support to the community if the law can substantiate any sentence given.
That is to say the court will go in favour of the community provided that the laws either municipal, regional or national agree. The first step would be to try to acheive a resolution at community level by presenting a formal complaint in legal format that if it does not achieve a agreed solution could later be relied on in court if required.

Q.
I want to make a will to my grandson but not my children is this possible ?
A.
The matter of wills and what freedom someone has over the choice of how to designate their estate will conform with the Spanish law which in the case of foreign nationals will confer the right to act in accordance with their own national law so for UK nationals that means you can skip a generation or leave someone out of your will as you wish so you should have no problem provided the will is carefully prepared to ensure your wishes are respected.

Q.
I have received DLA in the UK should I still receive it here in Spain
A.
Basically the answer is yes provided that you have initiated your claim and been succesfully receiving it in the UK before your arrival in Spain. There has been speculation about the possibility of being able to initiate the claim in Spain but so far nothing has changed. In respect of other benefits it is a wide and varied subject which at the moment is a matter that has been recently referred to the European Parliament for question.

Q.
The winter fuel allowance - should I still receive it ?
A.
YES ! a very resounding YES and in fact I am amazed to see a recent press article where a UK MP has in fact suggested that this should be changed. For this reason I would urge all readers to make sure that not only they are receiving it but that they also register their concern about suggestions of withdrawal by contacting their UK MP and pointing out that not only have they paid in to the system for years to receive such grants/benefits buts additionally EU nationals arriving in the UK get it without question and further more it a right which should be protected since under EU legislation a citizen should not be prejudiced when moving between states in respect of a benefit entitlement already awarded. The practical aspect is that regardless of where in the EU someone lives they will experience extreme weather conditions that for retirees sometimes results in their not being able to pay for an adequate amount of fuel.
In order not to have more cases of UK retirees literally freezing to death this is an essential benefit. Be aware that freezing to death can occur anywherein Europe since no part of Europe is exempt from extreme weather.

Poor economic statistics and unhelpful comments rain down on sterling. Investors take the view that something will turn up for Greece. Sterling proved to be slightly less fireproof than it had been the previous week, losing the half- cent between €1.11 and €1.1050. The low came at €1.0950 on Wednesday and sterling was staring at that same level as things got under way in London this morning.
In a dull week for hard data the British economy did not have a whole lot to say for itself and what it did manage to scrabble together was not particularly edifying. Two house price indices, one from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and the other from estate agents' website Rightmove, damned the property market with faint praise.
The RCIS house price balance, which compares the number of members reporting higher prices with those reporting lower ones, fell from 32% to 17%; still positive but more reservedly so. Rightmove's index of asking prices went up by 0.1%; positive buy only by a technicality. UK industrial production figures were a bigger disappointment and took sterling to the lows of the week. Production (manufacturing, mining and energy lumped together) fell by -0.4% in January. Manufacturing alone was down by -0.9%. January's trade deficit was £8 billion, the biggest since August 2008.
Between August '08 and January '10 Sterling's tradeweighted value became 23% weaker yet imports were up and exports were down. The significantly more competitive currency is still not having any positive effect on the balance of trade. Sterling also had to contend with unhelpful comments from several quarters. Credit ratings agency Fitch was 'uncomfortable with the fiscal adjustment path set out by UK authorities' and looked for 'more credible and stronger fiscal consolidation plans during 2010. Credit Suisse anticipated that UK banks, collectively, would have to reduce their balance sheets by more than £500 billion over the next three or four years in order to meet new regulations. The prime minister reassured investors that Britain's AAA credit rating was solid but not all of them were convinced, especially the researchers at UniCredit Bank who predicted that the government would have problems selling all the bonds they need to shift to finance the budget deficit. Euroland was just as starved as Britain when it came to useful statistical guidance. Investor confidence improved from -8.2 to -7.5 but the figure was still negative. It was only really euro zone industrial production that counted for anything. The +1.7% increase in January was way better than Britain's anaemic performance, even if it did only represent a +1.7% improvement over the same month last year. More salutary than that were Germany's trade figures.
In the same month that the UK made an £8 billion loss, Germany turned a profit of almost the same amount. It did so despite what the authorities in Berlin and Paris describe as an overvalued euro.
Underlying everything to do with the euro was still the co-ordinated (or not) bailout programme for Greece. Another week went by without any sign of final sign-off for the €25 billion (or thereabouts) mix of loans and guarantees that the Greek prime minister spent half the week travelling the world to engineer. As things presently stand there are several schools of thought. One believes that Greece will be able to work its own salvation, if only because it must. Another has it that Germany and France will eventually get off their high horse and put their hands in their pockets. Yet another argument is that, with or without Germany's co-operation, Brussels cannot afford to see the economy of a euro member crumble for lack of cash. The market's point of view, for the moment at least, is Micawberesque; 'something will turn up'.
Investors are not sweating too much as long as nothing explodes.
Sterling surprised many with another refusal to lie down last week despite a string of potentially damaging developments and data. However, as long as the opinion polls continue to indicate a hung parliament investors will continue to fear that even after a general election Britain's government will be unable or unwilling to tackle the budget gap.
Buyers of the euro should hedge 50% of what they will need. If the money is required in the near future they should consider covering the whole amount.
For further information about Moneycorp and it’s services please contact the local Costa Blanca office of Moneycorp on 902887243 and quote The CoastRider.

I moved to Murcia region nearly 6 years ago, primarily for my wifes health. I had been an IFA in England for over 20 years previously, and have seen a few of the turbulent financial occasions which have marked the World’s economy.
Again, this is with us, but this time, it is on global scale unseen for nearly 70 years. A friend of mine, who used to be a bank manager in England, told me that when the Sub-prime market collapsed in the USA, it was because of poor bank lending. One case in particular, was a $1million loan given to a person with limited income, assets of a trailer home and no other security. He was going to buy real estate and then rent it out to service the loan repayments. Of course this did not happen and the bank foreclosed with little or no way of recovering their money. This is just one instance of how the US Subprime market caused the start of the Global Financial collapse. The loans were securitised by the lending banks and sold to other world banks as an investment!! We now see how these “investments” became virtually worthless and the supposed profits soon became billion $ debts, leading to Bank collapses around the World. Who would have thought some years ago that respected UK High Street banks and Building Societies would need Government support to stop them going under and leaving depositors with limited cover for their money.
Spanish banks have been spared mostly by these problems, but not all, however they have their own problems, mainly the construction Industry. It is reported that approximately one million new built homes are for sale throughout Spain. If you link this to three quarter million resale homes, you can see the vast problem. Most banks have lent heavily to the promoters/constructors and they themselves are now repossessing development sites and becoming possibly the largest real estate agents in Spain.
The lower interest rates both sterling and euro, coupled with lower inflation makes for challenging times ahead. As with all crisis this no doubt will improve, but it could take at least 2-3 years before we see real improvement to possibly, levels nearer what we have been used too.
Whilst this is taking place, people are needing to invest for the future, whether it be for income or growth.
Structured products have a place in a portfolio and these can be tailored to the clients needs. They can have guarantees of capital with returns linked to world stockmarkets. Also some provide guaranteed income with reasonable capital guarantees.
Most of these require you to commit your investment for at least 3 years and up to 6 years. However the returns can prove attractive with yields some percentage points above deposit accounts. Naturally everyone should have some capital with easy access and this is needed for the unexpected moments, which I am sure, comes to us all.
We try to give our clients a balanced portfolio linked to a tax efficient Life Wrapper, for the medium to long term. The assets can be changed as time dictates as most clients have changing circumstances, which is only natural in this, also changing world.
I would welcome enquiries, as I would give you a personal assessment, by appointment, in your own home. You can contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it